Arab-Bangla Writers & Journalists Forum - ABWJF

رابطة الصحفيين والأدباء البنغال والعرب
Bengali and Arab Journalists and Litterateurs Confederation - BAJLC

Dear Sir,
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

"Bengali and Arab Journalists and Litterateurs Confederation" - BAJLC
"رابطة الصحفيين والأدباء البنغال والعرب" is a proposed non-government and non-profit organization, that bridges Bengali and Arab Journalists and Litterateurs with a view of exchanging rich cultural heritage of the two ethnic groups in order to introduce culture of each other in a wide range.

Bengalis (বাঙালি Bangali) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group native to the region of Bengal. They speak the Bengali language. Today, they are natively concentrated in Bangladesh and in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley. In India, there are also a number of Bengali communities scattered across Assam, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and other Indian states. In addition, there is a significant Bengali Diaspora beyond South Asia, numbering in the millions, a majority of whom are living as foreign workers. Some of the largest established Bengali communities are in Pakistan, the Middle East, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy, Canada, United Kingdom and United States. Dhaka and Kolkata are two of the largest mega-cities of the world, and inhabited mostly by the Bengalis.

Bengalis majorly belong to Islam by faith, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity.

Bengali literature (Bengali: বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language. The earliest extant work in Bengali literature is the Charyapada, a collection of Buddhist mystic songs dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries. Thereafter, the timeline of Bengali literature is divided into two periods − medieval (1360-1800) and modern (after 1800).

Medieval Bengali literature consists of various poetic genres, including Hindu religious scriptures (e.g. Mangalkavya), Islamic epics (e.g. works of Syed Sultan and Abdul Hakim), translations of Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian texts, Vaishnava texts (e.g. biographies of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu), and secular texts by Muslim poets (e.g. works of the Great Poet Alaol).

Novels were introduced to Bengali literature in the mid-19th century. Rabindranath Tagore, poet, playwright, novelist, painter, essayist, musician, and social reformer, is the best known figure of Bengali literature to the world. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. After the post-partition era, Bengali literature comprises literature of erstwhile East Pakistan and modern-day Bangladesh and of West Bengal.

Arab (العرب) are a major pan-ethnic group whose native language is Arabic, comprising the majority of the Arab world. They primarily inhabit Western Asia, North Africa, and parts of the Horn of Africa which comprises now-a-days of 23 independent countries.

Major Arab population belong to Islam by faith considering other minorities i.e. Christians and Jews.

Arabic Literature or الأدب العربي (al-Adab al-‘Arabī) is the writing, both prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is "Adab", which is derived from a meaning of etiquette, and which implies politeness and culture.

Arabic literature emerged in the 5th century with only fragments of the written language appearing before then. The Qur'an, widely regarded as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language, would have the greatest lasting effect on Arabic culture and its literature. Arabic literature flourished during the Islamic Golden Age, but has remained vibrant to the present day, with poets and prose-writers across the Arab world achieving increasing success.

Both these two ethnic groups who are similar in faith in majority, enjoy a rich cultural heritage separately but due to language barrier, both groups are not acquainted with each other's culture.

Although, there is a large number of Bengali people learn the Arabic language, as well as Bengali literature had been enriched with a touch of Arabic poetry of Omar Al-Khayyam, Sheikh Sa'adi, Jalal-ud-Din Rumi and others, which were translated into Bengali in the early age of Bengali literature movement, the modern generation are apart from Arabic literature and culture, as they don't have privilege to acquaint with the modern Arabic literature. On the other hand, Arab people don't have access to Bengali literature at all.

However, "Bengali and Arab Journalists and Litterateurs Confederation" - BAJLC "رابطة الصحفيين والأدباء البنغال والعرب" intends to bridge gaps between the two ethnic groups by creating access to each other's literature and culture through

and will be registered with the competent authority of Bangladesh government in order to function with legal base.